NHL betting: Central division odds

Our early look at NHL division odds continue as we focus in on the
Central division over in the Western Conference. The defending Cup
champions are obviously the favorite, but the St. Louis Blues could
throw a wrinkle into what might be an intriguing division.

The
Chicago Blackhawks are coming off their second Stanley Cup victory in
the past three seasons. They didn't have to do a whole lot of
maneuvering in the offseason but did lock up G Corey Crawford (he of the
epic Stanley Cup parade speech), head coach Joel Quenneville, and D
Niklas Hjalmarsson on multi-year deals. The Hawks are the overwhelming
favorite to win this division and for good reason.

The
Blues are a good hockey team. We know this. They are about as good as
anyone at keeping the puck out of the net and are a physical bunch. Are
they good enough to dethrone the Hawks in the division? That's the
million-dollar question. The problem last year was scoring goals. They
were an average at best offensive squad (17th in goals per game) and
addressed needs on offense by adding Derek Roy and Magnus Paajarvi - who
is a talent, but just couldn't find a niche in Edmonton.

The
Wild made their free-agent splash a year ago when they signed a pair of
faces for the franchise: Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. They found
themselves in the playoffs and, certainly, moving in the right
direction. Next season is big for the Wild. Star-in-waiting Jonas Brodin
will look to improve on a fantastic rookie campaign. They'll get a full
season out of trade deadline acquisition Jason Pominville. They've
brought in agitator Matt Cooke and took a gamble by acquiring Nino
Niederreiter from the New York Islanders. The defense and goaltending is
sound, but they need herculean efforts from a young crop of forwards to
put pucks in the net. If youngsters like Niederreiter and Mikael
Granlund can reach their potential and help out guys like Parise,
Pominville and Dany Heatley, the Wild could make some noise in the
Central Division.

The
Stars made one of the biggest moves of the offseason by unloading
proven NHL scorer Loui Eriksson (and others) to the Bruins for Tyler
Seguin (and others). It could be an incredible trade for both parties if
Seguin blossoms into a consistent player; something he showed flashes
off while in Bean Town. Also, adding the ageless Sergei Gonchar to
provide veteran leadership on the blueline will help.

The
Preds' brass must have been wide-eyed when stud-defenseman Seth Jones
landed in their laps on draft day. The Preds (I would imagine) made no
hesitation taking the 6-foot-4 blueliner at No. 4 overall and
immediately give Shea Weber the task of tutoring the star-in-waiting.
That's all well and good. But this team scores goal with such
infrequency and it's something that hasn't been addressed. Unless they
feel strongly that Viktor Stalberg is due for an 80-point season.

The
Avs are young and, frankly, are some time away from seriously competing
for a playoff spot, let alone winning the Central. But they are putting
together something interesting in Denver. They've added prized asset
Nathan MacKinnon as the top pick in the 2013 draft to go along with
super-talented Matt Duchesne and young captain Gabriel Landeskog. I'll
take time for the Avs, but in a couple of years they'll be a contender.

The
Jets play in arguably the league's loudest barn, but we probably won't
be able to witness the atmosphere in the postseason any time soon. They
did, however, lock up a few key players on long term deals (Zach
Bogosian, Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little) and will be piloted once again by
star left-winger Evander Kane, which really isn't such a bad thing.

In: Michael Frolik, Devin SetoguchiOut: Alexander Burmistrov

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The Jets might be a lot better than most , even most knowledgeable fans , are thinking . If Buff and Enstrom stay healthy they may create a power play that can actually produce, which may be enough to get them into the play-offs.

"The Jets might be a lot better than most , even most knowledgeable fans , are thinking . If Buff and Enstrom stay healthy they may create a power play that can actually produce, which may be enough to get them into the play-offs."

What you see is what you get each year from Pittsburgh, which builds through the draft, doesn’t sign a lot of free agents and basically comes at you. How much Ben Roethlisberger has left is a question asked every September given the number of hits he takes. The biggest change will be at defensive coordinator, where legend Dick Lebeau is gone – which may mean the LBs will be freer to attack the pocket.

The Vikes have Adrian Peterson back and things seem to have calmed down a bit in Minnesota. But then again, Mike Wallace has been on board for only a few months. Vikes are looking for a huge Year 2 improvement from Teddy Bridgewater and if they get it they can make things sticky in the North.

In 2014/15 the Steelers were 1-3 SU/ATS in the preseason and in 2013/14 they were 0-4 SU/ATS. After missing the playoffs in 2013/14, Pittsburgh returned last year only to lose 30-17 to the Ravens in the Wildcard round. Mike Tomlin has clearly not been very worried about winning in the preseason the last few years.

Last year the Vikes went 4-0 SU and 3-1 ATS in the preseason, after going 1-3 SU/ATS in 2013/14 and 1-3 SU/ATS in 2012/13. For a team which is desperately trying to get back to the playoffs, the preseason suddenly becomes a lot more important.

There are many players on Minnesota which have something to prove, while Pittsburgh will surely be happy to just go through the motions and leave Canton without any significant injuries.

Minnesota would seem to be the more motivated team in this one, consider laying the short points.

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